One Tiny Change
by The Goddess of Anger
Summary: What if one tiny change completely destroyed the outcome of New Moon? What if Bella never had to go to Italy to save Edward because he never needed saving? How much can one tiny detail change things? AU. Canon pairings. Uncompleted.
1. Answer the Phone by Sugar Ray

**Disclaimer: **Me**-**to my mom-"Do I own any of the Twilight charecters, books, or plots?"

My mom-"Sorry sweetie, not yet. Maybe you'll get them for your next birthday!"

Me-"Darn."

**Author's Note: Based in New Moon. The only change that made it so this story happened is that Harry didn't die until Jaccob was dropping Bella off. So Bella answered the phone, Alice saw Bella alive while driving towards Forks so turned around, and the whole thing played out like this:**

Jacob dropped me off at my house. I think he was about to come in, but there were suddenly wolves howling out in the woods, so he left in a hurry. I walked in just as the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Hello? Who is it?"

Silence.

"Hello? I'm going to hang up."

Silence.

"Hanging up now."

"Bella."

I stumbled backwards at the sound of the voice.

"YOU!"

"Bella, I"

"YOU!"

"Bella, let me"

"YOU!"

I took a rattling breath through my teeth.

" Do you know what I am? I'm INSANE, Edward. It's been eight months-EIGHT MONTHS and I shouldn't still love you-but I DO! How much of an idiot am I?"

I was crying now.

"and you-YOU!...Are...SO...**STUPID**, Edward! Were you kidding? 'It will be as if I never existed'-was that supposed to be FUNNY?"

"Bella, I'm"

"I'm barely even ALIVE, Edward. I'm forcing myself to live through every-single-minute!"

"Bella, why did"

"I can't even bring myself to HATE you! Do you know how** hard** this is on me? I'm pushing myself not to die because of some STUPID, INSANE hope that you're going to come back. Do you know what you've DONE to me?"

"BELLA!"

I shut up for a second, tears streaming down my face.

"Bella, why did you try to kill yourself?"

That one threw me. "What?"

"Why did you throw yourself off a cliff?"

"Oh-THAT. THAT was cliff-diving. It's very in with the werewolves these days."

I heard an intake of breath on the other line. "Werewolves?"

"Yeah, Edward, _werewolves_. You know, the ones keeping Victoria from murdering me. Those werewolves."

"Victoria?"

"Edward. Did you really think that leaving was going to keep my life from being dangerous? Yes, Victoria. She's here. She's trying to kill me. To get back at you for killing James. Although I guess that would imply you CARE what the hell happens to me."

"Bella."

"I mean, SHE doesn't know that you left. Oh, and have I mentioned Laurent?"

"What about Laurent?"

"HE was trying to kill me too. He actually got pretty close. He wasn't ten feet away from me when the wolves got him. That's how I found out about the wolves."

"Bella."

"What?"

"I love you."

"Mmhmm."

He could hear the sarcasm.

"I do. I was trying to keep you safe by leaving."

"I haven't been all that safe so far, though."

I still didn't believe him.

"That's why I'm coming back."

I took a sharp breath. "What?"

"I'm coming back."

I dropped the phone. The voice I'd heard hadn't been coming from it, anyhow. I turned around, slowly, trying not to get my hopes up.

Too late.


	2. Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale

There he was, standing behind me, in all his godly glory. I felt the blood rush to my face. "EDWARD!" I shrieked.

I don't know which of us moved first, but suddenly I was sobbing into his chest. He put his arms around me. I soaked his shirt through, sobs shaking my shoulders. He swept my legs out from under me, and carried me upstairs to my bed. At some point, I fell asleep.

I woke up in complete darkness. I looked over at my clock. Midnight. I'd slept until night, apparently. I thought about my dreams. The first one had seemed so real... I tried not to dwell on it, expecting the hole in my chest to rip open again. I tensed, expectant. Nothing happened. I rolled over, so I could look at the ceiling. It was dark, but I could just barely see it, the crack in the corner, the light in the middle. My vision adjusted to the darkness, and I could see in more detail. I closed my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. "Bella?" A quiet voice spoke from the edge of the room. What was dangerous about this? I was trying to sleep. "What? I'm not even doing anything." I mumbled. "Or is the roof going to fall in, and I'm being risky just laying here?" "What?" Much closer now. It almost sounded real...I sat bolt upright. "Edward?" I hissed. His image was right next to me, tantalizingly close. "Yes, love?" I shook my head. "Damn." "What?" "Nothing. I just thought you were real for a second. Go back away now." He stood over me, looking way too real. I had a good imagination, it seemed. "Why would I not be real?" He sounded amused. "You can't be here." Why was I explaining myself to a hallucination? "Why not?" I sat up, realizing that my subconscious was getting way out of line. "I'm just hallucinating again." "hallucinating '**again**'?" Now he sounded concerned. My beautiful hallucination put his icy hand on my forehead. I jumped out of bed, staring at him. He couldn't be...real? A cloud shifted outside my window, and moonlight pooled on his face. I didn't even have time for a conscious thought before I threw my arms around his head and kissed him full on the lips.

When a man, thirsty and tired in the desert, stumbles upon water, he doesn't wait to see if he has permission to drink. He doesn't question the fact that it appeared. Instinct takes over. So when I realized that Edward was here, really here, I immediately put thinking on hold.

Edward responded with the same aching hunger that I was feeling, hugging me close to his chest. I could really believe that he'd loved me now, really believe that he might have felt some tiny part of the horror I'd felt when he'd left. Gently, though, and with an awful sadness, as if he couldn't believe he was doing it, he surfaced, pushing me to arms length. "Bella, what were you talking about when you said I was just **another** hallucination? And what did you mean about nothing being risky?" I sighed. This was going to take some explaining. "You're going to think I'm insane." Edward smiled. "I hear voices. Alice sees the future. We're both surrounded by vampires and werewolves, and I'm going to think **you're** insane?" I nodded. "yeah, you are." He snorted. "try me."

We sat down on the bed, and I started at the beginning. The zombie-state, hanging out with Jacob, the hallucinations, Laurent, the werewolves, Victoria, cliff diving. How I'd heard his voice when I was being dangerous, how I'd ridden a motorcycle. I tried to skim through the parts that would hurt him the most, and all the while he was stroking my hair. I rested my head against his chest. When I finished my story, Edward looked at me, with a heartbroken look on his face. "You were risking your life to hear my voice?" He whispered. I nodded, and hugged him closer. "Edward?" "Yes, Bella?" "Never. Leave. Again."

He leaned down and rested his face in my hair. "Fine by me." He whispered.


	3. Come Clean by Hilary Duff

We sat there for a long time, discussing anything and everything. He revealed that his things-the pictures, the CD, everything-had been underneath the floorboards of my room the whole time. He told me about how he'd had a worse time with the leaving than I had-he hadn't even made an effort to fight it. "I just curled up in the corner and let the misery take over." He said. I didn't really believe that he'd had it nearly as bad as me, but I wasn't about to say that. Even a fleeting, almost cheating moment with Edward was still a moment with Edward.

I tried to stifle a yawn, but Edward knew me too well not to notice. "You're tired." He said. "Should I..." He gestured towards the window. I was horrified. "NO!" I whisper-shouted, a little too loudly. I hear Charlie's snores stutter in the next room, then they evened out again. "No." I said, more quietly. "Don't leave. Just...don't." I tried to hide how horrified I really was, how much I was worried that if he left now he wouldn't come back. He saw right through me anyways. "Bella." He said in a pained whisper. "I don't want to hurt you again. I won't leave unless you want me to." I sighed, leaning into his side. "I'll never want you to leave." I mumbled it softly, but I knew he heard it.

I woke up to another day. Just another day in Forks. Just another cold, grey, wet day in Forks. At least, that's what I was pretending for Charlie's sake. I couldn't let him think I'd seen Edward last night, spoke to him, woken up to see him sitting watching me. No, for Charlie I had to pretend it was just another day. Until I was at school, at least.

They were all there. Emmet and Rosalie and Edward and Jasper and...

"ALICE!" I shreiked. She ran up to me and we hugged. "Bella! It's so good to see you again! I have so much to talk to you about-" she eyed my outfit as if sizing it up. "we should go shopping!" I grabbed her arm-She was bouncing up and down and attracting too much attention. "Okay!" I said, laughing. "But let's talk about it some time I don't have somewhere to be." She looked around at the school in disgust, as if it had done her a personal wrong. "Lunch." she said. I nodded. "Okay. Lunch." She sighed, smiling broadly at me. "I missed you so much." She said. I nodded. "You have no idea."

I turned off my truck and turned to the rest of them. Jasper smiled and nodded cordually at me. Rosalie cracked half a smile. Emmet was beaming like a little kid. I saw all this in the a half a second it took Edward to be next to me. I put my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. He kissed me. I kissed him back. It was bliss.

It started raining as I walked with Edward towards the school. I felt like I was high on something. I vaugly noticed that people were staring at me, but for once, the attention didn't bother me. I looked up and felt the rain. I smiled. It was like we were back at the beginning of everything.


	4. Someday by Nickelback

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My computer has been on the fritz. So, here's the newest chapter:**

At lunch, I sat with Edward and his family instead of my usual table. I saw Angela sneaking looks at us every once in a while, but her face was filled with happiness and satisfaction. She was happy that I better. Jessica was flat-out staring, a look of disgust and betrayal clear on her face. I tried not to look at my old table too much after that.

Alice was babbling in my ear the whole time. "Oh Bella it's so good to be back I missed you so much! We have to go shopping how about Saturday? No, wait, we can't go then, Angela needs you to help her find a dress for her date with Ben. How about Sunday? Ok, perfect! Why are you laughing, Bella?" She looked at me, her head tilted sideways. I shook my head, still laughing. "You…nothing. I'm just not used to not having to talk at all while being planned for." She grinned at me. Jasper started chuckling, too. "It's hard to get used to Alice." He said. I nodded.

When I was done eating, and the Cullens were done pretending to eat, it was time to go to Biology. An entire class next to Edward. I smiled. As I walked into the classroom, I saw lots of people stare at me. Mr. Banner was looking at me open-mouthed, and I realized that I was grinning widely. I tried to remember the last time I'd felt this happy. The only thing that really came close was…

JAKE! I thought. Oh, crap. My smile faltered, as I thought of Jacob. He'd run off right before I had that phone call, going off to figure out what all the wolves were howling about. He wouldn't be happy that the Cullens were back. I registered movement near me and a velvet voice said, "What are you thinking about?" I started, and looked around at Edward. He was smiling. "Wouldn't you like to know." I mumbled, suddenly caught up in his amber gaze. He sighed. "Bella, you look like somebody just kicked your puppy." I laughed at the dog analogy, still thinking about Jacob. "Close enough." I told him. He would have asked more, but Mr. Banner started class at that moment. "Turn to page 89, and read all three paragraphs on the central nervous system…" He droned on, and I sighed and took out my book. I'd read the whole thing anyways, one of the many things I'd tried to use to distract myself. Nothing had worked, of course, but I'd tried anyways. Edward also took out his book. As I pretended to read, I felt a note slide under my fingers. I looked down at it. In Edward's perfect calligraphy was "Are you feeling okay?" I looked sideways at him, and wrote a reply in my own sloppy scrawl. "I'm fine. It's just that I'm worried about Jacob. I haven't seen him since the yesterday, when he ran off because there was something wrong." Edward frowned. "I'm sure he's fine." He wrote, and I turned back towards the front of the classroom and tried to pay attention to Mr. Banner.

When I got home, there was a message on my answering machine. I pressed the button, and Jacob's voice came from the speaker. "Hey, Bella, It's me. I need you to call me. It's kind of important, so as soon as possible would be nice. Please, call me." I picked up the phone, my finger hovering over the first number. I stood there for three minutes, contemplating. Then I slowly put the phone down, listening to the click.


	5. Answer the Phone 2

**Okay, don't yell at me, please. I know it may look like a pro-J & B story, but I'm totally Jake + Renesme all the way, Bella and Edward were meant for each-other and all that stuff, so cool your jets.**

"I need to call Jacob."

I said it in a half-hearted voice, with a sigh at the end. I knew that I probably didn't want to hear whatever it was that Jake was going to say. I listed all the possibilities in my head: Hey Bella, Quil turned. Hey Bella, Sam told me I can't hang out with you any more. Hey Bella, I know that Edward is back and I'm pissed about it. Hey Bella, we can't be friends anymore because you're spending your time with vampires. Hey Bella, I've imprinted.

Hmm. That last one probably shouldn't have sounded the worst. Jake's my friend, I should want him to be happy. I want him to be happy. I replayed all the answering machine's messages again.

"Hey, Bella, It's me. I need you to call me. It's kind of important, so as soon as possible would be nice. Please, call me."

"Hey, Bella, It's Jacob. I don't know if you got my last message, I really need you to call me. Seriously. I'd feel weird telling this machine and I don't know if you'd get the message anyways. Call me."

"Bella, why are you ignoring my phone calls? Are you mad at me? You can yell all you want, but what I need to tell you doesn't just concern us, and it's really important."

"Hey, it's me again. Jacob. The one who you really need to call back. I'm not kidding, Bells, this crap isn't funny. I need you to call me."

"Bella, if you do not call me within the next 48 hours I'm going to physically go to your house to talk to you. And I'm bringing the motorcycles. Yeah, it's blackmail. Just get on the phone if you don't want Charlie to ground you for the rest of your life."

He sounded tired and angry. I picked up the phone, staring down at it. Sighing, I dialed the number. The phone on the other end picked up half-way through the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jake, It's me."

His voice instantly sounded relieved. "Oh Bella, thank god. It's the most awful-" He seemed lost for words.

"What, Jake? What happened?"

"Harry-Harry had a heart attack. Billy's been trying to get Charlie over here to tell him. I really need you down at La Push to help with the funeral stuff-Harry apparently had a lot of bank accounts in other states. I've been calling you, but..."

I instantly felt insanely guilty. Harry Clearwater had died-Charlie's best friend-and here I was, just sitting here afraid to call in case it was something to do with Jacob.

"Oh-Jacob that's awful! I'm so sorry I haven't called-I've just been-I mean, I've-how's his family holding up?"

"Well, Seth and Leah are all right. It's been coming for a few years, they knew it was pretty much the end, and they got to say their last goodbyes. Sue is worse. She was over having dinner at Billy's while Harry was home watching the game-it was a real shock for her."

His voice got low and sad at the end, and I could tell how hard it was on him.

"Jacob, of course I'll help! Only-well, I suppose you know, right?"

His voice was suddenly loud and angry.

"What? That the Cullens are back? Yeah, I've figured it out by now, thanks."

"Jacob, it's just that-well, they don't exactly like werewolves. I don't think they'd let me go over there-they'd think it was dangerous"

"So what do you propose?" His voice was tired, and I suddenly wondered when the last time he'd slept had been.

"Well if you could come over here-I mean, Harry died, I want to help, of course I do-but it'd just be...so much easier...if you could come over here instead."

"Yeah, okay. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

It was only after he'd hung up that I realized Edward was behind me. Maybe he'd been there the whole time, maybe he'd only appeared after I'd dropped the phone.

"The dog is coming over." He said, and I could hear the irritation and impatience in his voice.

"Yes, _Jacob_ is coming over. I'm trying to find some middle ground here, since you won't let me visit him in La Push. Harry just died, and Jake needs some help with the paperwork."

Edward sighed. "I know, love. But I can't help my nature, and it is my nature to despise him and _his kind_."

"I don't want to cut my friends out of my life, Edward. Think of how unhealthy it would be for me, mentally. We can explain it all to a therapist one day." I took on a theatric voice. "Yes, you heard me right, my vampire boyfriend was trying to keep me away from all my werewolf friends. What's that? What size straight jacket do I wear?" Edward smiled at me.

"I'm just trying to keep you alive, Bella."


	6. Crashed by Chris Daughtry

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, folks! Way to much going on in the RL right now. But I'm back now!**

I sat at the table, staring at the wall. Edward was trying to comfort me, but I was in an awful mood.

"I've been ignoring him for a week, and it turns out all he was trying to tell me was that his dad's best friend died. I should have been there to help. I'm such a horrible person."

He sighed. "Bella, you couldn't have known."

I shook my head, then pounded it with my palm. "Stupid, Stupid, STUPID! I'm so STUPID."

He spun my chair around to face him. "Bella, calm down. You're not stupid, and you're not a horrible person, and the very last thing you need right now is to be in a bad mood. Jacob needs help with paperwork, not with feeling awful."

My face uplifted a little at his gentle tone, but then I sighed.

"All right. Fine."

"Good. Now, he's about to get here, so I've got to leave."

He held his hand over my mouth to stifle my protests.

"Bella, it will make it easier on both of us. Oh-one more thing."

I pouted, sad that he was leaving, even for however short a time. "What?"

He smiled and kissed me. "I love you."

And he disappeared.

I sat, stunned for a second, but I heard Jacob pull into the driveway and hurried up to get the door.

"Hey, bells." He smiled weakly at me. I gasped at his appearence. It was ghastly.

There were cuts all over his face, and his hair was matted in blood. His shirt had red stains that I didn't like.

"Jacob, what-what happened to you?"

He shrugged, then winced. "It's nothing Bella."

I gaped at him. "The HELL it is! Come in here, I've got bandages in the first aid kit."

He obliged to come into the kitchen with me, but refused to accept bandages.

"Bella, I'll heal better by myself if I leave it be."

I relented, sitting down at the table.

"What HAPPENED?"

He mumbled something uncomfortably under his breath.

"What?"

Sighing, he took my hand and pulled me outside, to his rabbit.

It was totaled. The car looked like it had been on the wrong side of a monster truck battle. The entire thing looked like it was about to fall to pieces.

"You CRASHED?" I gasped.

He nodded uncomfortably. "Listen, we should go back inside. I brought Harry's papers, and we need to look over them.

He had the look of a cornered animal, trying to find the quickest exit.

I wanted badly to argue, but gave up and decided to get this over with.

Harry had been very generous in his will, leaving almost all of his money to his widow and children. He also mentioned the fate of a few sentimental items for Charlie and Billy, but the whole thing was very straightforward.

The funeral plans, however, were not.

"Now, if we invite his aunt Maple, we'll have to accomodate for the fact that she uses a wheelchair, and the only place we can put her is towards the front, because she has a hearing aid. She's asked not to sit near Sue, because they never got along, so Sue has to be at the other end of the front row, so that she can still be close to the stage but not near Maple. In that case, Leah and Seth should..." And so on, for 3 hours.

When he finally left, I offered him a ride, because his car honestly didn't look like it would start on it's own. But he just smiled grimly and said,

"Yeah, I bet your bloodsucker friend would just LOVE that. Nah, Bella, I can make it back home, and I'll fix it up there."

After 3 and a half hours, he did look much better. Almost all of his wounds had healed.

I let him drive away, with a question in my mind.

"Edward, how did Jacob crash?"


End file.
